Four Shades of Red
by 0re0C00ki35.xo
Summary: Oliver Queen has only ever seen 3 shades of Red in his life: Blood, Rage and The Flash. Through one of them however, he sees another. Alas, there were four.


Oliver's lost sight of Barry. He can't find him.

He can't see Barry anywhere.

He scanned the whole street for the red suit or the yellow lightning. He zoned out all his surroundings, trying to listen for his lovers voice, his lovers breath.

Everything else just became white noise.

Except this wasn't comforting.

Dark leather jacketed men came charging at him, about six in total. Usually, the Arrow would try to stop killing people. He'd knock them unconsious and let the Police do the rest.

That's what the Flash wants. And God, the Flash was his light. Flashlight. He laughed slightly, solemnly, at his thoughts.

Now, without Barry in his sight, things were dark. Oh, so very dark.

He shot down all of them without hesitation. He didn't waste time watching the life leaving their eyes, or their final breaths evaporating in the cold wind.

He had to find Barry.

His gut told him to find Barry.

He was too blinded by the darkness to care who stood in his way.

He saw red.

Rage, blood, and the Flash.

Those were the three types of red Oliver saw.

Rage at his enemies, usually seen when attacking someone.

Blood, seen on his hands every single day.

The Flash, the one thing Oliver lived for, and the one thing Oliver hoped he would die for.

The Arrow knew his job as the vigilante would cause his early death. All he hoped was that it would be meaningful. Something brave, honourable, and something he would never regret.

Through Barry - he found exactly that.

But now, now he can't see the light. And he needs to find it.

Rage red, that's what he sees. He fights and kills and rips his way through the oncoming army of men who dared seperate him from his boyfriend. First, it was 2 men, then 6, then 10, then 12, then-

"Felicity." The vigilante hissed.

"I know. I'm searching... Oliver, we'll find him. He'll be okay. Just give me a minute." The IT girl said determined, knowing she had to find the younger man.

After what felt like eternities of running and fighting and killing, Felicity yelled through his ears, "I've got him! He's down the street! On your third right! But Oliver, he isn't moving."

That only made him run faster.

His lungs burned in the icy air, cold breath like a fire in his chest.

His legs screamed and ached and hurt with unbearable agony.

And yet, he ran on.

Red. He saw red.

But it was his red. Oliver's red. Barry's red.

"Bear!" He yelled as he approached he man. The Flash sat against the wall, one hand clutched his abdomen while the other lay limp at him side. His cowl was off his face, showing the paleness and claminess of the man's skin, revealing the blood on his lips and the dazed look in the man's glazed over eyes.

Within seconds, green collided with red as Oliver knelt aside Barry, dropping his quiver and cupping Barry's face.

The younger man's eyes slowly turned to him, however they remained unfocused. Oliver panicked momentarily as Barry's eyes rolled to the back of his head before returning.

"Stay with me, Barry. You're gonna be okay. I'm here." The man growled softly.

His hand gripped the others limp one, before realising what Barry's other hand was holding. A green gloved hand moved Barry's, finding a tear in fabric, flesh and muscle. The older man pulled away like he was stung and looked at his hands.

He saw red. Blood. On. His. Hands.

He let go of Barry's other hand before applying complete pressure on the wound.

"Talk to me Barry. What happened?"

"Guys...tack...om...b...nd..." The Flash mumbled. Oliver growled.

"Okay, you're okay. Does anything else hurt?"

"H...d" His mouth bubbled with blood while his eyes fluttered.

"Barry!!" Oliver yelled, uncaring of the mans' idenetity. He moved a hand from the wound and brought Barry's face so he could look at him.

The younger man gasped for air and his eyes shot open, before his entire composure returned to the tired, weakening form he was before.

"I'm here." He rasped.

"Keep talking to me Barry, please. Just talk to me." Oliver practically begged.

"Ab...t wh...t?"

"Anything, baby, anything at all." Oliver wasn't usually one for pet names. But this was Barry - his Barry - laying on the ground slowly dying. His reputation for cold and uncaring suddenly disintergrated at the thought of this whole scenario.

The younger man remained silent for a second, and for a moment Oliver thought that he had lost him, before, "It's really cold tonight."

Oliver laughed almost histerically. "Yeah, baby, yeah it is." Tears formed in his eyes, he was uncertian if it was from pain, fear, or laughter.

"I felt it when... running... like ice..."

Oliver could reinforce the coldness he felt in this moment.

"Don't you always feel cold when you run?" Oliver made more conversation, obeying the scream in his mind to keep Barry awake, keep Barry talking.

They continued like that for 4 minutes and 53 seconds before screeching tyres halted at the end of the alley Oliver had ran from. The slide door at the back was already open, splitting the word STAR in half. Inside, was Caitlin by the door, and Felicity further inside next to Diggle. Cisco was driving, with Thea in the passanger seat.

"Get in!" Caitlin yelled with determination, her eyes undeniably filled with worry and fear for one of her best friends.

Oliver, briefly apologising to Barry for moving him, picked him up bridal style, while Barry groaned in pain. Behind them, he could hear footsteps. Oliver turned, to find more goons bolting towards them. He turned back to face the van before running, and saw Dig and Thea pull out guns, shooting down any man that got too close to their family than they'd prefer.

"Caitlin's here Barry, just hold on okay? She'll help, and tomorrow we'll go and get Big Belly Burger. Just hold on another minute okay?"

"I love you." Barry gasped out, and Oliver refused to hear it over the gunfire and screaming. He didn't want to hear Barry saying goodbye.

"One more minute, Bear. Just one more minute." He repeated firmly.

And in that moment, Barry Allen's world went black, and Oliver's world became impossibly darker.

XXXXXX

A twitch. Oliver felt Barry's hand twitch as he held it.

They were in STAR labs, the streets were quieter after Supergirl and The Legends with the rest of Team Arrow and Team Flash dealt with the night before.

Barry lay on a bed, wearing a black hoodie and his legs covered with sheets. His lip was cut, and his abdomen was bandaged. He had many IVs' in his arms, and one of those things Oliver couldn't name on his finger which measured oxygen levels. He also had one of those nose tubes attached to an oxygen canister - yet another thing Oliver couldn't name.

Next to him, Oliver sat in a grey shirt, and blue jeans. He hadn't slept since last night, but the Team had urged him to have a shower and get changed because Barry would want him to be okay when he woke up.

And Oliver knew he didn't want Barry to feel guilty about scaring him shitless last night to the point he couldn't take care of himself.

The rest of the team were all in sleeping bags in the cortex, the night previous joking about having a superhero themed sleepover. Kara however, had returned home, and Caitlin was awake after treating Barry all night.

Another one. Oliver felt Barrys' hand squeeze his this time. He looked at the mans' eyelids, noticing the eyes underneath moving and his eyelashes fluttering. He seemed lost, looking for a way out. Looking for his own flashlight.

"Barry?" Oliver called.

Barrys' eyes opened, his green eyes almost immeadiately finding Olivers' blue ones.

"O-Ollie?" He whispered.

Oliver stood up, his hand remaining holding Barrys', while his other hand when to Barrys' cheek and he moved his face right above the younger mans'.

"Hey." He whispered happily.

"Hi." Barry whispered back.

"You okay? Does anything hurt?" The vigilante asked, stroking Barry's cheek.

Barry shook his head softly, staring straight into Olivers' eyes. "I'm okay."

In that moment, Olivers' eyes filled with tears, "I almost lost you, Barry. Again. I almost los-"

"But you didn't. I'm right here Ollie."

"I should have protected you, I shouldn't have lost sight of you."

"That's not your fault."

Oliver shook his head. "It's my job to protect those I love, Bear, and you are my top priority."

"What about Thea?" Barry challenged.

"I think she prefers to try to protect me." Oliver smiles at how... light he feels.

Barry closed his eyes again, humming in agreement. He feel silent for a minute, and Oliver grew concerned.

"Barry?" He called softly. He got a hum in response.

"I love you. You know that? Tell me you know that, Bear." Oliver said.

Barry opened his eyes to look at Oliver again. His eyes filled with concern for the older man, "Ollie?"

Oliver took one of Barrys' hands in his own, cupping it and bringing it to his face. He kissed it softly before leaning his forehead on his own hands, still holding the younger mans'. He shook his head slowly, smiling sadly.

"Last night I-"

"Ollie plea-"

"Let me finish Bear." He pleaded. Barry complied.

"Last night I nearly lost you, and it made me realise one thing. I couldn't lose you. Because I love you, Barry. I feel like I don't say it enough. It may be because I don't share emotions all that well, but Barry, hear me now. I have loved you since I first laid eyes on you, I love you now, and I will always love you. Okay? It's why I need to be able to see you, because I can't lose you. Not when I can protect you. I love you."

He looked in Barrys' eyes to find unshed tears. Barry was smiling. He was happy.

"I love you too, Ollie. And I always will." He said with a thick voice. Oliver smiled.

"I know." He said softly. His eyes grew even softer when he realised how tired Barry looked, and the way the younger man was barely able to keep his eyes open. He leaned over Barry and kissed him on the forehead. "Get some sleep, Bear"

Barry had already closed his eyes, "Will you stay with me?"

Olivers' heart nearly broke, Barry sounded so child like, like a kid afraid of the monster under their bed or the dark itself. He smiled at the innocence and vunrablility Barry showed. He stroked Barrys' knuckle softly, "Always." He said simply to sleeping form.

As the man watched his lover sleep, he barely acknowledged the red tint in his vision. When he noticed, he nearly freaked out. There was no blood, no rage, and the Flash suit was gone. So why was their red?

It took him a while, but he realised that everytime he looked at Barry, the red became stronger, purer and richer. He thought about what this could mean, before he caught on.

Love.

He was seeing, feeling love.

Love for Barry. And Barrys' love for Oliver. And it felt, light. He... felt light.

Oliver smiled, relaxing. He found his light, his hope, his life.

And he also found his love.


End file.
